The present invention relates to a direction-control device for a tennis-ball shooter, and more particularly to a control device which may accurately simulate live shots by controlling speed, left and right angles, up and down angles, and spinning axes of tennis balls for practicing.
Automatic tennis-ball shooters attempt to simulate an actual shot from an opponent. This simulation can be varied by adjusting the speed and direction of the ball, e.g., left, right, up, and down. However, in actual competition, the number of possible shots is much greater than that which can be simulated by these five variables. For example, for the common drop-shot, a player slices the ball to apply excessive back spin thereon. Other shots with top spin and side spins are also common, rotating the tennis ball about any number of axes. These common shots cannot be accurately simulated with current automatic tennis-ball shooters.
Therefore, there has been a long and unfulfilled need for an automatic tennis-ball shooter with a direction-control device which accurately simulates live shots by controlling speed, left and right angles, up and down angles, and spinning axes of tennis balls.